The Scarlets were made to dig deep to keep their Guinness Pro12 play-offs alive, frustrated for long periods by a dogged Dragons who defied all the pre-match predictions.

It needed a touch of class from Wales centre Jonathan Davies to put distance between the sides with international team-mate Liam Williams adding another try in the second half before Adam Hughes touched down for a deserved consolation for the Dragons.

Rob Lloyd analyses the talking points to emerge from the second match of Judgement Day V.

In the box seat

The Scarlets made hard work of it, but their third successive league victory, coupled with defeats for play-off rivals Ulster and the Ospreys, has now made them favourites to make the top four.

Wayne Pivac's side are up to third in the table, two points ahead of their nearest and dearest - who they meet on the final weekend of the season - and three above Ulster, beaten 22-20 by Munster in a Thomond Park nail-biter on Saturday afternoon.

The Scarlets head to Galway to take on Connacht for their penultimate fixture and will know they need a vast improvement on this error-strewn display.

But with the Ospreys hosting Ulster on the same weekend, they could even secure a play-off spot before the final round.

Steff Evans looks for space (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

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Dragons did their homework

It wasn't pretty - at half-time with the score 6-3 to the Rodney Parade side a touring party from Ireland got up and left their seats - but credit for the Dragons for concocting a game-plan that knocked the Scarlets right out of their stride.

They swamped the breakdown with numbers, ensuring the Scarlets weren't able to get any quick ball and any tempo to their play, while they also lured the free-running West Walians into a tactical kicking game that was far removed from what they have been playing in recent weeks.

For long periods, it was a slow, turgid kickathon and the more it went on like that the more the Dragons grew in confidence.

But in the final quarter, with the Men of Gwent tiring and starting to fall off tackles, the Scarlets were able to do enough to pull clear with tries from international duo Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams securing the spoils.

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Flankers, flankers, everywhere

The outstanding Ellis Jenkins took the man-of-the-match award in the first match and the back-rowers shone in this one.

James Davies set the tone with an early turnover before he left the field with a shoulder injury, while man of the match Ollie Griffiths and the impressive Nic Cudd, against his old employers, were into everything as part of a tenacious Dragons display at the contact area.

Griffiths was particularly impressive, living up to the billing of his coach Kingsley Jones, who had described the former Wales Under-20s skipper as having international player written all over him.

Wales are fortunate to have a wealth of riches in their back-row pool and if Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric are selected for the British and Irish Lions this summer, Robin McBryde certainly won't be struggling for players to step in for the Tests against Tonga and Samoa.

Ollie Griffiths with ball in hand (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

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Sanjay the boot

When Dan Jones was replaced by Hadleigh Parkes midway through the second half - the Kiwi centre slotting into an unfamiliar 10 position - the Scarlets were left without a recognised kicker in their ranks.

Wales wing Williams, who has taken the odd place kick in his time, didn't cover himself in glory with his first strike to touch, kicking it dead by some distance.

But he landed a crucial conversion of Jonathan Davies's try, in off the post, and a 40-metre penalty to keep the Dragons at arms length.

He then hit the post with the conversion of his own score, but at a critical stage of the match Williams looked more than comfortable in the role.